Preliminary feasibility study of PCM condenser for PCCS of APR1400

Abstract

Passive cooling has become an important factor in safety of nuclear reactors. Many ideas were proposed for the passive cooling of the containment but most are limited in application on existing power plants. A passive containment cooling system using PCM (Phase Change Material) is introduced in this study. Among various PCMs, one organic PCM is selected based on melting temperature and volumetric heat capacity. The cooling capability of the PCM condenser with the selected material was analyzed using CAP code. It showed that even without the active spray system, the PCM condenser can successfully cool the containment under certain conditions. Experiments were performed to test the actual heat transfer performance of the condenser. Results showed that even with simple design of heat exchanger as implemented in the experiment, the PCM condenser can successfully cool the containment for a Loss Of Coolant Accident.